The exhibition explores the forty-year career of the architect and includes seminal drawings, renderings and models along with a variety of film and media installations. It sets out to highlight her exploration into the Russian Avante-garde style at the beginning of her career and how this continues to influence her work. Zaha Hadid has long been admired in Russia for her studies into these areas and was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in the very building where the exhibition will be taking place.

Malevichs Tectonic, 1976-77 (Image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects)

"The spirit of adventure to embrace the new and the incredible belief in the power of invention attracted me to the Russian Avant-garde,” explained Hadid when she accepted that award in 2004. Hadid cites the experimentation along with the artistic inventiveness of the movement as having drawn her to the style initially.

The exhibition looks at some of the pioneering projects from Hadid’s career including the unrealised Peak Club in Hong Kong, The Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art and The London Aquatics Centre. By looking at her past works, the exhibition hopes to address the increased complexities that continue to permeate her work now and into the future.